Collective action taken in Norfolk to secure future water supplies has been highlighted in a national report.

The study - called Water: Building Resilience - uses a project run by Norfolk Rivers Trust (NRT) since 2012 to show how it has worked with more than 300 farmers to help rivers and wetlands while protecting food production.

The Norfolk and CamEO (Cam and Ely Ouse) project uses practical on-farm measures to improve water retention, reduce runoff, protect soils, enhance biodiversity and improve the resilience of surrounding water supplies.

The project has involved working across agricultural supply chains to use water more sustainably by increasing groundwater infiltration and enhancing the land’s water-holding capacity.

The report says that farmers in the East of England have a critical role to play in securing the region’s future water supply by embracing innovative solutions and fostering collaboration.

The Savills report says the current fragmented approach to water management across different sectors is "unsustainable".

It calls for an integrated water management strategy to address water quality and quantity issues.

According to regional group Water Resources East the East of England is projected to require over 400 million extra litres of water per day by 2050 to support its growing population, food production and environmental protection.

The study identifies several ways that farmers can contribute to water resilience, including improved water management solutions, collaborative working, sustainable practices and investment in infrastructure and reservoirs.

Dan Murphy, associate in the food and farming team for Savills in Norfolk and Suffolk, said: “As abstraction licences and weather patterns become more uncertain, farmers in the East of England are coming under more and more pressure to use water more effectively.

Dan Murphy (Image: Richard Marsham) "Finding innovative solutions to reduce reliance on already stressed resources will be crucial to creating a sustainable and long-lasting business."

Government needed to make more resources available, provide funds for infrastructure and support an integrated approach, he said. 

“Many farmers and landowners in Norfolk and wider East of England are now exploring how best to manage their water supplies, with some adopting nature based solutions and rainwater harvesting and others constructing on-farm reservoirs, upgrading irrigation systems and developing water recycling facilities," he said.

Farmers and landowners can play a pivotal role in regional groups by sharing best practices and developing integrated water management plans, he said.

The NRT project has been involved in the construction of a large on-farm attenuation feature – a pond designed to temporarily hold and gradually release water to prevent flooding during heavy rainfall – on land with low productivity.

"The new feature will capture water from the surrounding arable land, holding it to allow infiltration and recharge of the chalk aquifer beneath," said Mr Murphy.

"It will also create a new habitat for wildlife and mitigate the effect of field runoff, thus improving the resilience of the landscape against increasingly frequent extreme weather.”

 Josie Crook, sustainable agriculture officer at NRT, said: “By using these resources more sustainably, we can improve the resilience of the landscape and make food production more environmentally viable for future generations.”